Shell moves natural gas business to Singapore

LONDON — In response to booming demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Asia, Royal Dutch Shell announced plans Wednesday to move its natural-gas business from The Hague to Singapore, Bloomberg reported.

Asian demand for LNG is increasing rapidly as China is moving away from coal for power generation. Japan is also buying more LNG since shutting down several nuclear facilities following the Fukushima Daiichi disaster of 2011.

“We see the major gas trading, the growth of the gas market, the growth of the integrated gas business will be Asia- based,” Andy Brown, upstream director at Shell, said. “The LNG business is going to be in the Far East, and Singapore is a central part of the Far East trade.”

Shell said it plans to open its new Singapore gas business on Jan. 1, pending approval from local authorities.